Build

I don’t know about you, but I find that having a calming book to read before bedtime helps me to unwind from the day, slowing and quieting my mind in preparation for sleep. Most often, I select a non-fiction work such as a collection of essays on nature, or a memoir. This week’s selection was Patrick Hutchinson’s Cabin: Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman. Like some of us, Hutchinson was looking for something more in life, and not sure what it was, he took a risk to buy a small cabin in the Cascade Mountains for $7500. What he got was a life changing experience.

Step 1: Layers of wool roving

Think about a project that you imagined would change your life. Looking back on it, what did this project involve? Were you prepared for this challenge? Did you have the necessary skills or motivation to tackle it? Did you have the finances to bankroll your efforts, or friends and family to help, or at least cheer you on? Did you start only to find out that you were in over your head?

Hutchinson admits that he quickly was in over his head, but he did have a bunch of supportive friends who were willing to make the trek up to the cabin with a sense of adventure. Most of them were clueless about how to repair a structure, build a functioning outhouse, or properly install a wood burning stove. This cabin had no running water, electricity, or cell service, but Hutchinson was invested in learning how to do all the projects, and spent hours researching on the Internet and learning from the people who did possessed the necessary skills.

Spoiler alerts: You guessed it! Hutchinson and his friends learned by doing, and in some cases by failing and having to do it again. By the end of the book he sells this tiny cabin in a much better condition than it was when he bought it. Most importantly, he left the cabin behind with a set of skills that allowed him to change the course of his life and career path.

Step 2: Adding additional detail spots of color

We are all builders in one way or another. We build our lives, our careers, our communities. It takes us overcoming inertia to pick up these tasks, and the necessary growth that comes from learning new skills to carry out the projects we set out to complete. We learn to think creatively and problem solve. Not all of our solutions will work, and we find ourselves going back to the drawing board. The key is not to give up. I’ve learned that you can’t sit around and wait for somebody else to do it for you.

What is it that you want to build?

How about a delicious meal. Cooking is all about ‘building’ flavor by assembling the right ingredients to get just the right taste. How about a garden, which needs to have rich soil teeming with organic matter from compost, placement in a spot with the best sunlight for growth, and maybe a protective fence to keep the critters from eating up all your hard work.

Step 3: Piece after the wet felting process has been completed and dried.

As an artist, I’ve learned that I too am a builder as I create a new piece. I might start out with a plan in the form of a sketch, followed by an underpainting or a layer of colored papers which will serve as the foundation by setting the color palette or mood for the piece. Mixed media/collage work is all about layering, think about it as putting up the walls. The design takes shape with the elements I am incorporating into the piece. Sometimes while the piece is progressing, I discover that something isn’t working out just right and I begin to struggle. When things seemed stuck, I take a break, walk away and return later. Other times I just stand back and take a good look at the piece from a distance. When you are stuck in the middle of a problem you can only see what is in front of you, and you lose sight of the bigger picture, and it’s at these times that you might want to give up. However, this is the most critical point, this is the point at which you are going to make your key breakthrough.

Peppered through this piece are photos of a project I completed while learning a new skill by taking a class in wet felting. I had expectations for the outcome based on the examples that my instructor, the extremely proficient artist, had on hand. Things started out great, but midway through at the very wet, messy stage of turning tufts of wool roving into felted fabric, something didn’t seem to be going right for me. Yet I kept at it. I persisted. The last stage was to add the fine details using needle felting techniques, which I had previously taken a couple of classes in. That’s when my confidence returned, and the final product is something I’m pretty proud of.

Final step: Needle felted details to create a homage to Monet’s water lilies

Building is the outcome of being a lifelong learner. The willingness to engage in something that you find interesting and trying it out for yourself. Hutchinson dreamed of the cabin life, but in order to afford it, he bought a real fixer-upper and had to do it himself. For me, it is to continue to learn art and textile making skills. Will I do more wet felting? Time will tell, but I can tell you that needle felting is an art form I want to do more of.

This week, reflect on the building that you are doing in your life. How are you growing in confidence in the skills you are acquiring, and the relationships that are being fostered as you learn from and work with others?

Take Care,

Maryanne

P.S. Shout out to Rachel Benson and Hollis Artspace